A couple’s verbal altercation escalated into a stabbing that left one in serious condition on the evening of Dec. 9. A witness told police that the man and woman were arguing in his apartment in the 100 block of West Chestnut when the man ran into the kitchen, dumped all of the silverware on the floor and picked up a steak knife.

He allegedly then proceeded to attack his girlfriend, stabbing her in the chest, left side and right thigh before throwing the knife in the garbage and fleeing the scene.

The witness called police and medics rushed the woman to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where she was admitted in critical condition.

At 10 a.m. on Dec. 8, an employee of a videogame store in the 1400 block of West Webster was opening up shop when a young man approached him and asked if the store bought used games.

The employee went to the register and waited for the man to show him the items he wanted to sell, but the man instead produced a handgun and told the employee that he wanted the money in the store’s safe, warning him that he had worked at one of the chain’s locations and was aware that the safe did not have a timer.

The employee handed over $500 in cash; the man then brought him to the back office and demanded that he hand over three Sony Playstation game systems. The employee complied and the man put the merchandise in a black nylon bag and fled.

Police toured the area but were unable to find the offender, and a further investigation revealed that the man matched the description of a suspect who had robbed two other area chain stores.

An employee of a bar in the 2200 block of North Lincoln Avenue returned to work at 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 7 to find that the establishment had been burglarized. The unknown offenders destroyed a jukebox and an ATM in the bar and stole approximately $6,500 from a safe in the basement. Also missing was the DVR player that had recorded the incident.

A police survey of the premises revealed that the offenders had entered the building by prying open the back door and had used the owner’s own saw to cut open the safe.

A 29-year-old woman was walking in the 300 block of East Ontario Street at around 6:15 a.m. on Dec. 7 when a man approached her and said, “Give me your money.” The woman panicked and gave the man her credit cards, and he demanded that she hand over her wallet.

She told him she didn’t have a wallet, at which point the man got angry and punched her in the face two or three times before running away. The woman got up and managed to walk to the nearby Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she contacted police and was treated for minor injuries.

On the afternoon of Dec. 7, a man walked into a bank in 500 block of North Michigan Avenue and passed a note to one of the tellers which read “Be quiet, be fast, I need $100s, $50s and $20s, make it fast, no test.”

The teller removed money from her drawer and gave it to him but he demanded more; the teller complied. He then asked for the note back and left. The bank reported that the man made off with $2,240.

On the evening of Dec. 9, a man was sitting in a book store café in the 800 block of North Michigan Avenue when he witnessed a man sit down behind a woman and proceed to reach into her purse while she wasn’t looking.

The thief then got up and left, and after talking to the woman the man called police and followed the suspect downstairs. The witness identified the suspect to an arriving officer, at which point the man took some things out of his pockets and put the items on a shelf.

The officer retrieved the woman’s belongings, which included credit cards, various IDs and a social security card, and arrested the suspect after interviewing the woman and the witness.